The Guardian’s picture editors have selected a series of compelling photographs from around the world for Friday, May 8, 2026.
United Kingdom
In London, Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, hugged Green candidate Zoë Garbett after she was elected as mayor of Hackney. Meanwhile, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer met party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church in Ealing. In Sunderland, Philip Thompson, a Reform UK candidate for Fulwell, wore gold shoes at the election count at the Silksworth sports complex. In Edinburgh, a vote counter paused while ballot boxes were emptied during the Scottish parliamentary elections.
Europe
In Italy, Pope Leo XIV visited Pompeii to meet people helped by the charitable organisation Temple of Charity on the first anniversary of his pontificate. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at Chigi Palace in Rome. In Budapest, members of the Hungarian contemporary ballet group FrenAk Company performed during a rehearsal of F-EVER at the National Dance Theatre.
Middle East and Asia
In Lebanon, mourners attended a funeral for four people killed in an Israeli strike in Ansariyeh. In Ukraine, a firefighter took a break during an operation to extinguish a forest fire in the Chornobyl exclusion zone after a drone crashed near the defunct nuclear plant. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected a naval vessel at an undisclosed location. In Taiwan, Cheng Li-wun, chair of the Kuomintang, reacted after parliament approved a $25 billion special defence budget bill. In China, cars passed blooming bougainvillea flowers along viaducts in Chengdu.
Americas
In Washington DC, US President Donald Trump visited the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool to see a new blue protective coating being applied as part of a renovation project. In Mexico City, fans of the South Korean K-pop band BTS gathered outside the Estadio GNP Seguros before a concert.
Australia and Switzerland
In Melbourne, an armoured police vehicle arrived to transport two women allegedly linked to Islamic State away from the Melbourne magistrates court. In Geneva, the Ocean Dream, a triangular vivid blue-green diamond weighing 5.50 carats, was displayed during a press preview at Christie’s auction house. It is said to be the largest such diamond known to exist and is valued at between £6.6 million and £9.4 million.
